Field of the Invention
The invention relates passenger transportation/access devices of a building. In particular, the invention relates to verification of authenticity of a maintenance means connected to a controller of a passenger transportation/access device of a building. The invention further relates to provision and obtainment of a license key for use in this verification of authenticity.
Description of the Related Art
Modern passenger transportation/access devices (such as lifts/elevators, escalators, automatic doors, integrated access control systems, etc.) of a building typically have an electronic controller device associated with them that is configured to perform various control operations on its associated transportation/access device. Furthermore, a maintenance means is typically connectable to such a controller. The maintenance means is typically a portable device or application carried by a service person that is configured to perform various maintenance operations on the controller when connected to it. These maintenance operations may include e.g. routine status checks, diagnostics, configuration checks, software updates, and other similar operations.
Both the controller and the maintenance means (at least when connected to the controller) are located on-site, which means that they are exposed to onsite users. This provides an opportunity for a malicious third party to try to tamper with them. Accordingly, they must be secured. For this purpose, prior art utilizes various shared secret techniques and/or obfuscation techniques.
However, shared secrets must be included in both the controller and the maintenance means. Anyone with knowledge about the shared secrets and obfuscation techniques could create a new maintenance means without authorization by or knowledge of the passenger transportation/access device provider/operator. Compromise of the shared secrets and obfuscation techniques would destroy the security of such a passenger transportation/access device. Since both the controller and the maintenance means are located on-site, even the shared secrets and obfuscation techniques are still vulnerable to malicious activities, such as attempts to decipher the shared secrets.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to alleviate the problems described above and to introduce a solution that allows verification of authenticity of a maintenance means connected to a controller of a passenger transportation/access device of a building.